What is the European Union doing to combat gender inequality?
Since its inception, the European Union has supported gender equality and a more social Europe.
The EU adopts legislation, issues recommendations and exchanges of good practice, and provides financial resources to support Member States’ actions. EU policy concepts on gender equality have been shaped by rulings of the European Court of Justice. The European Parliament regularly adopts own-initiative reports on gender issues, calling for greater efforts to improve gender equality.
The European Parliament has always been very active in achieving equality between women and men and has a standing committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. Every year, Parliament celebrates International Women’s Day (March 8) and raises awareness of the issue by organizing events.
In January 2022, MEPs renewed their call for a new Council format to meet ministers and secretaries of state responsible for gender equality. MEPs hope that this new configuration of the Council will help implement important gender equality initiatives, such as the ratification of the Istanbul Convention on Combating Violence against Women.
In February 2021, Parliament adopted a resolution assessing the progress made on women’s rights over the past 25 years and the many challenges that still lie ahead. MEPs expressed concern about the deterioration of women’s rights in some EU countries and the risk that gender equality could fall further into the background. Parliament also called on the European Commission to ensure that women’s rights are mainstreamed in all its projects, to develop concrete plans to improve poverty rates among women and to step up efforts to close the gender pay gap.
Underlining the importance it attaches to gender equality, the European Parliament established the annual European Gender Equality Week in 2020. This is an opportunity for parliamentary committees to look at the areas they deal with from a gender perspective.
In June 2021, Parliament adopted a report calling on EU countries to protect and improve women’s sexual and reproductive health. MEPs want universal access to safe and legal abortion, high-quality contraception and sexual education in primary and secondary schools. They also called for the VAT exemption of menstrual products.
In March 2022, Parliament adopted the third EU action plan on gender equality, which aims to support sexual and reproductive health and rights outside the EU and ensure universal access to it in EU countries.
In 2019, the EU approved new rules on family and carer’s leave and more flexible working conditions to create more incentives to promote women’s employment rates and for fathers to take family leave.
Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.
